My son received a letter in the post that he he owed almost £400 in unpaid court fines. When he called the court he was told that he was stopped last year for not having a ticket and it went to court and he failed to attend and was issue a fine. It turns out it was one of his old school friends who he has no contact with gave my son’s name, date of birth and used a fake address (we all used to live on the same road and he have a neighbours door number).
The court have since traced my son to our address and have issued a letter regarding bailiffs and they keep sending text messages to pay the fine. It’s really distressing for my son who suffers with anxiety. Please can anyone advise us? Will the police help? Can the boy be arrested? Will the boy who used my sons details be held to account? How do we sort this with the court?
Hi welcome to the forum.
So basically, if you can clarify
q1) your son did not dodge a fare, was not 'caught' / spoken to by railway staff about any ticketing issues?
q2) your son did not receive any letter in the post earlier on from the railway company eg asking 'for his version of events' type thing - and probably also threatening that it could be taken to court?
This is v important to check with your son - as if he did get such a letter and failed to engage (eg to deny it was him) with it then he maybe cannot use the process I mention below over this because that is about a case where you have been taken to court without knowing anything about the matter you are accused of.
q3) how old is your son?
q4) do you know what train company it is that initiated the court action?
I think the process for this is to (urgently) do something called a
Statutory Declaration which 'resets the clock' on the basis that your son did not know about being taken to court as false details were given (I am assuming the court never had your son's correct address and it is the Bailiffs who have done the detective work and traced him to now get the money? Do you know if that is correct, or did the person who gave false details - the 'friend' - maybe give an old address where your son used to live?).
There are other threads on Statutory Declarations if you search the forum - or other experts on it may post to explain more.
IIRC from other thread you can do this yourself without using a solicitor, but it may be worth using one as they will know exactly what to do and probably do not charge much - maybe trying ringing a few local solicitors to you to get a price for doing that.
The reason you need to do it ASAP is that I think you have to do it (or your son will) within 21 days of finding out about this.
You could also urgently write to the train company and explain what you believe has happened, and you are taking steps with the court to sort this out, (ie your son's details have been used by another person maliciously) - they will want to hear from you as they will want to engage with this - if you think you know who has done this you could tell them that too (I would!) - unsure if they would then be able to commence proceedings against that person now but that is up to them. The railway company may originally have taken some brief descriptive details of the person they stopped and questioned - which may or may not match your son.
So at this stage today I would
a) ring the court and ask them about this / making a statutory deceleration
b) ring 2 or 3 local solicitors to see what they would charge to help with such a declaration
c) start to prepare a letter to the train company Revenue Protection Section explaining what you believe has happened
d) wait and monitor other advice on here for rest of the day etc to see what other experts suggest
Hope this helps.
Depending on the age of your son you may need a letter of authority signed by your son to act on their behalf I guess.
It may be worth trying to keep the Bailiffs at bay by taking a clear line with them and sticking to it / possibly writing to them - eg could say:
- your contact on behalf of the court is the first I have heard of this
- I believe my identity was used by another person falsely
- I am currently seeking advice on the best course of action to resolve this
- I am now in contact with the court about this matter
I've no idea what they would do but it may mean they go and chase someone else instead of your son for a bit / de-prioritise the case whilst you get the help you need and take the action you need to take.
Ref your specific questions:
A) Please can anyone advise us?
People here will help with suggested actions
B) Will the police help?
Probably not with this now it has been to court, but essentially your son is a victim of stolen identity I would think, and the perpetrator of that may do it again for other situations they are in - so personally I would report it to the police. The kid who did it may start to learn that actions have consequences....
C) Can the boy be arrested?
I don't know. (I assume you mean the boy who did it). If you mean your son I suspect not but the court Bailiffs will have processes to secure the money they believe they are owed and will keep trying to do that until the court tells them not to I would think - and that needs the case reviewing presumably - which is where the Stat Declaration comes in I think. That then allows your son to make it clear to the train company that it was not him who was stopped for ticket irregularity that day and hopefully the Train Company then drops the case against your son.
D) Will the boy who used my sons details be held to account?
Up to the Train Company I would think to decide what if anything they want to do about the person who they did stop (I suspect people giving false identities when stopped happens all the time so they will have a process they use in such cases).
E) How do we sort this with the court?
I think it is the Stat Declaration process but happy to stand corrected by others!
Hope all this helps - it's not what you need at any time, whether you suffer from anxiety or not